Erupt, Watercolor on board, 6×6
Erupt
Blog
We Might have been Mountains
Peaceful Power, 8×10 , watercolor on canvas
There’s a part of the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland where almost every hill or mountain is a former volcano or testament to a lava “emission”. some of the more hills that might have been mountains are beginning to grow moss. The pink and purple ground and the muted greens seem to me a perfect combination of power and peaceful promise
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Repetitive De-stress Order
Some scenes get stuck in your consciousness. I see this one when I close my eyes, and it fills me with peaceful energy.
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When to Quit
The problem with skies is knowing when to quit messing with them. I know, I just can’t help myself, so here I sit waiting for the paper to dry so I can fix it.
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Sanity Check
Sitting down to listen to the presidential debacle — I mean, debate — with a stack of totes to paint for the craft fair at St James church in Arlington VT this weekend. Painting has been just what the head doctor ordered the last week or two while we work through an ongoing healthcare issue with T1, and a little doodling may be just the right antidote for tonight too.
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Sins and Temptations
When we returned from Iceland, I knew I would have to paint its landscape. It didn’t just creep into my soul; it exploded it, shaking me awake after a long sleep.
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Work in Progress
Kleifarvatn Lake, the largest lake on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland, sits on a fissure on the Mid-Atlantic ridge.
Not too long ago, apparently annoyed by the pesky elves and trolls in whom 60% of Icelanders swear they believe (and 40% won’t say they don’t) Mother Nature cracked up. The earthquake that resulted created a hole in the bottom of the lake. The lake lost quite a bit of water.
A few years later, after living with her impromptu makeover and giving it a real chance, Mother Nature began filling the crack again. She fed the lake from underground, and by the time we saw it, she had almost refilled it.
It’s almost like she was trying to remind us that life is a work in progress — even when you’re 4.5 billion years old.
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Our Mom
It’s impossible to live in the mountains for a long time and not, at some point, see a female form in the peaks and valleys. They don’t make really recall the delicate shape of a young girl but more the convex curve of a belly that has nurtured life a few billion times. It makes it easy to understand how cultures around the world have personified the earth as Mother. It also makes it easy — and difficult — to understand why we treat her the way we do.
I was thinking of that this afternoon as I escaped to find something new to draw.
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Advance Payment
Reykjanes area, watercolor, 9×12
A few years ago a friend, wrote a post on his blog about his writing and how, for him, there was no drama or anxiety when he sat down. Writing is clearly natural for him, and, unlike many people he worries not about being good, just about keeping going.
I’ve had a few of those moments this week when I’ve been painting, and I’m so glad I’d read that post because when it happened, I was able to see them for what they were.
It also became one of those moments when you realize that sharing your art or your work is the opposite of selfishness or self-centeredness because you never know how or when it will change someone.
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Monday Funnies – Healthy Relationships
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The Care and Feeding of Green
Þingvellir, Watercolor, 9×12
Even fire and ice, given enough time and almost against their wills, can produce green.
It is the delicate, velvety soft green of life gaining strength. It’s made richer because it grows in the parts of the earth blackened by fire fighting with ice, and it needs only water, sun and permission to grow.
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Old as Dirt
Gaia’s Thermals, Watercolor, 12×16
Geologically speaking,Iceland is a pretty young bump on Mother Earth’s body. If the Appalachians make it seem like she may be sagging here and there, Iceland is the fiery reminder that she still has plenty to show and tell.
Picking My Battles 